1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of materials science and in particular to improvements in materials which are useful in charge storage devices such as capacitors.
2. Description of the Background Art
Capacitors are used in a number of electronic devices. As these capacitors improve and devices requiring increased energy storage are designed, it is desirable to decrease the size and weight of capacitors, both for ease of portability of the device itself and, in larger applications, to reduce the size and weight of the device while maintaining or improving the power storage needs for complex modern devices. The size and weight of some conventional charge storage devices can limit the mobility of the system in which they are used.
For example, high performance capacitors are used or have the potential for use in applications requiring solid state power components, power electronics and sensors for civilian and military applications, such as space craft; ocean-going ships, particularly all-electric ships; directed energy weapons; commercial and military aircraft and their components; industrial applications requiring tremendous torque such as freight trains and very large dump truck for use in mining; or any application where it is desirable or necessary to handle large voltage and/or reduce weight. Heavier devices are particularly disadvantageous in applications such as spacecraft, unmanned aerial or ground vehicles for military and civilian applications, aeronautics, shipping, heavy industrial and military vehicles, or any application which relies on advanced power electronics to handle large voltage, from very large ships to smaller personnel transports such as Humvees. Therefore, capacitors with superior ability to handle and store current with less weight and bulk would be highly desirable for manufacture of smaller and more portable electronic devices and could be used in multi-layer capacitors such as those which are commonly used as surface mount devices in microwave printed wiring boards or in hybrid integrated circuits DC filtering, or in single-layer capacitors for applications where the highest frequency response is desirable.